EF 49 12 45 16 NS P O ST E R A B ST R A C T S percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), as thrombolysis can be administered within few minutes of STEMI diagnosis. Metropolitan hospitals are equipped with more staff, access to physician/cardiology and sufficient resources for further treatment compared to rural centres. It is unclear how these expertise and choices may impact on either expediting or delaying decision making in revascularization strategies. Objectives: Compare efficiency of thrombolysis in rural versus greater Brisbane metropolitan areas in those patients with acute STEMI. Methods: Acute STEMI patients who were directly or eventually referred to a tertiary centre in Brisbane (Princess Alexandra Hospital) over a 4 months period were identified. The onset to needle time (OTN), first diagnostic ECG to needle times and Door to needle (DTN) times were estimated in patients presenting with acute STEMI within 6 hours. Maximum creatine kinase (CK) rise used as the assessment of the extent of myocardial infarction. Results: A total of 195 (average age 61yrs, 78% male) acute STEMI patients were prospectively reviewed over the past 4 months. The Table 1 and 2 below shows the results in detail.